Finger Lakes Toy Library in Ithaca has 750 toys to engage young imaginations

Spring storms brought a wintery mix of snow, rain and sleet to the Finger Lakes recently, causing Ithaca's famous gorges and waterfalls to fill with cold, rushing water.

Kate Collins / Staff video

Cohen Boyle likes toy trucks, cars, trains and kitchen sets.

But at 21-months-old, the inquisitive toddler sometimes tires of toys within a few short weeks. When he does, Cohen’s mom Hilary Boyle brings her son to the Finger Lakes Toy Library where he can pick out a new selection of toys to borrow.

Hilary Boyle and her son Cohen play with a dollhouse at the Finger Lakes Toy Library in Ithaca. The ...more

Hilary Boyle and her son Cohen play with a dollhouse at the Finger Lakes Toy Library in Ithaca. The library has over 750 toys available for lending.

Kate Collins / Staff photo

“I just love that we don’t have to buy all the toys,” said Boyle. “At this age, three weeks is all it takes for them to be totally bored with it anyway so as soon as he’s bored we come in and switch them back.”

Located on West Clinton St. in Ithaca, the Finger Lakes Toy Library houses a collection of over 750 toys for families to borrow. Its shelves are stocked with infant and toddler toys that can be easily handled by tiny hands, as well as musical instruments, play costumes, dollhouses, card games and puzzles.

The Finger Lakes Toy Library in Ithaca has a collection of over 750 toys available for lending.

The Finger Lakes Toy Library in Ithaca has a collection of over 750 toys available for lending.

Kate Collins / Staff photo

Members can check out everything from blocks to board games to binoculars, for up to three weeks.

“At any given time, there’s up to 300 toys checked out,” said Toy Library executive director Amber Smith.

The Finger Lakes Toy Library is one of about 400 toy lending libraries in the nation. According to Smith, the toy library model started with lending developmental toys to families with special needs children but expanded to include toys for all kids and even adults.

“We say we focus on ages zero through seven,” said Smith. “But we’re trying to grow in such a way that a lot of our toys are all ages.”

Parents and children browse the Finger Lakes Toy Library in Ithaca, which has over 750 toys ...more

Parents and children browse the Finger Lakes Toy Library in Ithaca, which has over 750 toys available for lending.

Kate Collins / Staff photo

With the exception of a select few robotic games, Toy Library’s focus is on toys that run on imagination, not batteries. Many of the toys are eco-conscious as well.

“We try to stay as safety conscious as we can about things, to keep toxic plastic stuff out of babies mouths,” said Smith, noting that the nonprofit also seeks to keep toys from ending up in landfills.

Over 130 local families have joined the Finger Lakes Toy Library since it opened in June 2017. Funded by grants, donations and members, the volunteer-staffed Toy Library offers annual memberships based on a sliding scale.

“We were hoping to be at 100 members in a year, and we hit 100 members in seven months,” said Smith. “It’s been fast, fast growth.”

Erika Mudrak joined the Toy Library soon after it opened and frequently brings in her toddler daughter Marianna Mazzello to pick out cars and pull-string toys.

“It’s nice to have fresh stuff for her to play with,” said Mudrak.

Recently, the family tested a toddler board game, as well as a board game for adults

“We’re not sure if it’s going to be a hit or not, so we don’t have to worry about spending the money” said Mudrak. “We can just try it out.

For Boyle, the Toy Library is a great way to keep her son engaged without accumulating too many toys. A “transient Ithacan” due to her husband’s studies at Cornell University, Boyle and her young family will be relocating in the near future.

“Part of why I love the Toy Library don’t want to have so much stuff and potentially move across the country and have to take it all with us,” said Boyle.